The Terra Madre Barachìn

Transforming an event into a party for everyone, because food is a right for everyone

The Terra Madre Salone del Gusto - Barachìn project allowed the distribution of over 1,000 meals to people in difficulty and saw the active participation of Reale employees, who made a huge contribution, as volunteers, in the distribution of meals at the premises in Via Bertola, Turin.

The hope is that this project can continue forever because every family and restaurant can take care of their neighbours in difficulty.

The project is developed in the city of Turin and is part of a larger project that includes the entire territory of the Piedmont Region, as part of the international event Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2018 (20-24 September 2018).

The Barachìn project aims to guarantee a form of participation in the event also for those who, for various reasons, cannot take part.

The project aims to implement one of the principles contained in the Chengdu Declaration, a document approved at the last International Slow Food Congress, i.e. to guarantee everyone the right to good, clean and tasty food. In particular, during the Terra Madre Salone del Gusto event, some chefs of restaurants throughout Piedmont, chosen by Slow Food, will prepare portions of the dishes on their menu to offer to people who are alone, ill, with problems of an economic nature or in general afflicted by other situations that generate a particular weakness.

Thanks to the help of La Stampa – Specchio dei Tempi Foundation, a number of families in conditions of particular difficulty (these are families that have already been followed and assisted by La Stampa - Specchio dei Tempi Foundation) and several homeless people will be identified, who will be given vouchers to be able to collect, every day for 5 days, the barachìn (food box). A total of about 200 food boxes per day should be distributed, for a total of 1,000 food boxes (i.e. 1,000 meals).

The guiding principles of the project are: the desire to communicate the equal dignity of all individuals, through the concept that good, clean and tasty food is a right for everyone; the desire to recover the sense of community, with attention to the difficulties and needs of those close to us; the need never to lose sight of critical situations in a community (large or small) even in moments when a part of the community does not experience these problems and even prepares to celebrate a party; restoring dignity to people who, for various events in life, feel they have lost it or see themselves marginalised by the rest of the community.

The aim is to make these people feel part of the community at a time of celebration and to make them aware of the fact that the community exists and has not forgotten them. The intention is to create awareness in the public opinion, informed through the media of the initiative, that it is essential to recover the ability to look at others, at those close to us, to understand their difficulties and how to be of help, also in creative forms and not necessarily characterised by pure and simple solidarity, but above all by compassion.